About Us

For over three decades, BOTEC Analysis has offered intellectual leadership and government advisory services in the realm of criminal and drug policy. The BOTEC approach is balanced, aware of the costs of both criminal and drug-using activity as well as the enforcement efforts designed to reduce that activity. The company’s work is evidence-based and grounded in academic literature as well as recent developments reported in the field.

Recent projects have examined illicit cigarette markets, connections between drug use and criminal behavior, and policies for reducing the violence of drug-trafficking organizations. A major focus within crime policy has been “swift and certain” sanctions regimes. BOTEC researchers were responsible for a seminal 2009 evaluation of the HOPE pilot in Hawaii and several efforts to replicate and evaluate HOPE-style programs elsewhere in the nation. BOTEC’s involvement with probation reform is part of our commitment to problem solving at the intersection of the criminal justice system, illicit markets, drug abuse, and public health.

BOTEC’s reputation for excellence and integrity allows it to tap into the best thinkers and researchers. BOTEC’s diverse staff offers a robust mix of expertise featuring renowned economists, lawyers, doctors, engineers, academics, and a Nobel laureate. Specialties include game theory, public policy, operations research, modeling, law enforcement, randomized-control trials, evaluation, and more. Recent clients include the National Institute of Justice, the Washington State Liquor Control Board, the City of Seattle, and numerous non-profit grant-making institutions.

Our Mission

BOTEC Analysis is a research and consulting firm that develops solutions to issues in public policy, particularly in the areas of crime, justice, and drug policy.

Our Process

A back-of-the-envelope calculation (BOTEC) starts with the question and then uses the best information available – even if that information is only approximate – to figure out the relevant answer. Sometimes that sort of rough calculation leaves the right course of action in doubt. That’s the time to roll up your sleeves and go collect some new data or do fancier analysis.

Our Vision

Results matter more than slogans. Relevance trumps precision. The path eventually mapped by rigorous analysis is found with a back-of-the-envelope calculation.

Our Team

MARK KLEIMAN

Chairman

MARK KLEIMAN

Chairman

Mark A.R. Kleiman, MPP, PhD, is the chairman of BOTEC Analysis and a world-renowned expert in crime reduction, justice, and drug policy. In addition to his work with BOTEC, Dr. Kleiman is a Professor of Public Policy and the Director of the Crime Reduction & Justice Initiative at New York University’s the Marron Institute, a member of the Committee on Law and Justice of the United States National Research Council, and co-editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Dr. Kleiman attended Haverford College, graduating with a B.A. Economics (honors), Philosophy (honors), and Political Science (high honors). For his graduate education, he attended John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, earning an M.P.P. in Public Policy in 1974 and a Ph.D. in Public Policy in 1983. For 19 years he served as a Professor of Public Policy at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs. Previously, he taught at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, served as a Visiting Professor at the University of Virginia Batten School, and was the first Thomas C. Schelling Professor at the University of Maryland. Kleiman was a legislative aide to Congressman Les Aspin (1974-1975) and a special assistant to Polaroid CEO Edwin Land (1975-1976). From 1977 to 1979, he was Deputy Director for Management and Director of Program Analysis for the Office of Management and Budget of the City of Boston. Between 1979 and 1983, Kleiman worked for the Office of Policy and Management Analysis in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.